Project description
Food-derived peptides for natural metabolic health
Obesity and type 2 diabetes represent significant health challenges associated with chronic intestinal inflammation and dysregulated hormone signalling. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) plays a role in enhancing insulin secretion, suppressing appetite and regulating blood glucose. The clinical success of GLP-1-based drugs has established this hormone as an important therapeutic target. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the IMMPRO project will explore the hypothesis that some dietary proteins can stimulate GLP-1 release upon digestion, providing a food-based strategy to support metabolic health. The investigation will focus on milk and soybean peptides to assess their impact on GLP-1 secretion and intestinal immune responses. Researchers will utilise organoids, gut models and advanced molecular profiling to achieve this.
Objective
Obesity and overweight are major contributors to chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, often accompanied by chronic inflammation, which can affect the gastrointestinal tract. Enteroendocrine cells are a specialized cell population found along the intestine that secrete multiple hormones in response to meal-related stimuli. Among these hormones, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) plays a vital role in enhancing insulin secretion, suppressing appetite, and maintaining glucose balance. Additionally, GLP-1 receptor is expressed on immune cells, including intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes, which regulate mucosal immunity by producing anti-inflammatory cytokines and help maintain barrier integrity. Indeed, it has been suggested a bidirectional relationship between hormonal secretion and immune function, where gut hormones can influence immune activation and inflammation, while inflammatory processes can, in turn, alter hormone secretion.
We aim to understand the effect of peptides derived from gastrointestinal digestion of milk, soybean and pea on the modulation of GLP-1 secretion and their effect on intestinal inflammation through that hormone. To investigate this aim we will use a multi-approach strategy that involves the use of mouse intestinal organoids, immune-epithelial organoids, an isolated perfused model of the mouse intestine, and mouse studies, combined with state-of-the-art molecular characterization (immunohistochemistry, cellular analysis, peptidomic characterization by tandem mass spectrometry). Using these approaches, we aim to address the critical need to understand the molecular links between protein digestion, hormone secretion, and immune activation, and to identify food peptides that enhance GLP-1 release and modulate immune responses. This knowledge could pave the way for more sustainable dietary interventions, potentially contributing to the development of novel, food-based therapies for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and inflammatory bowel diseases
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine endocrinology diabetes
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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28006 Madrid
Spain
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